


Above All

by ywhiterain



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Multi, cameo of katherine, incestuous ot3s, the last ones standing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-09
Updated: 2012-09-09
Packaged: 2017-11-13 22:10:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/508237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ywhiterain/pseuds/ywhiterain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elena runs; Stefan and Damon follow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Above All

In the end, there were two choices: run or stay.

Elena chooses to run.

Stefan follows her, because he owes her. Damon follows her, because he promised her. She lets them, because she loves them.

*

They drift from one state to the next.

Damon, hand on the steeling wheel, asks her every now and then, what exactly her plan is.

Stefan, hand intertwined in her hair as she lies in his lap in the backseat, doesn't need to ask.

*

They stop at hotels every few days and always get two beds. Elena burrows herself in Stefan's arm and he clings to her. Damon sits at a table, on the other bed, in an uncomfortable arm chair, somewhere away from them and drinks.

And Stefan and Elena fall asleep to his careful watch.

*

They stop at national, public and private parks and forests. Stefan teaches her to hunt animals and Damon teaches her to hunt people. Mostly, she sticks to blood bags.

Damon kills people. Elena's tells herself that she's too tired to protest, tells Stefan who is she to judge anymore, tells Damon to prey on people other than just schoolgirls because the last thing they need is an obvious trail of bodies leading Klaus to them.

When Damon bids Stefan to follow him, she gives Stefan a little nod, and Stefan follows his brother. Someday, she knows, she and Damon will probably fight over Damon's version of self-control. Stefan will say nothing and of use and do what they decide. She doesn't feel strong enough for that burden yet, isn't ready to mess up the fragile peace they've built.

*

Sometimes, Elena will think about her family and sob. Stefan will hold her. He'll kiss her hair and rub her arms and tell her they'll get through this. She'll believe him.

Sometimes, Elena will grab Damon and drag him to a clearing without people. They'll fight until he's got her pinned on the ground beneath him and she's too tired to move. He'll tell her she's getting stronger and she'll try and smile.

Sometimes, not to kill together, Stefan and Damon will go off alone. Elena does not ask what they do. She's not only one among them made simply of broken pieces, not the only one in need of comfort.

*

When Elena first sinks her fangs into a person and kills him, Damon hovers, thinking she'll break. Stefan helps her clean the blood off of her face and understands that this wasn't the first person she killed.

Damon underestimates her strength and Stefan overestimates it. She melts between them, torn between fearing Damon is right and knowing Stefan is.

*

Katherine finds her. They pretend to be twins eating lunch together. It's easier than it should be. With ease, Katherine makes her laugh. Elena asks if she'll be okay and Katherine doesn't wear her easy confidence when she shrugs.

Family, Elena thinks, later, waiting in the hotel for the brothers to return to her, above all.

Klaus slaughtered Katherine's family in one go, Klaus took out Elena's one by one over the course of a month. Both were an act of vengeance. Both happened because of the unlucky fact that they were born and survived in spite of Klaus' best efforts. Elena has the brothers to keep her from slipping off the edge; Katherine has herself and no edge to worry about. She doesn't know who has the better deal. All she does know is that fair is no longer a word that has any meaning for her.

*

Fun, Damon will tell her as he drags her to a bar, a club, a movie theater. They do and the night will end up with them fucking against a wall in a dirty alley.

Stefan will take her to a carnival or Elena will take him on a hike and the day will end with them under the covers, laughing rolling in each other. They make a space together, to be normal for a little while, and relish in it.

Stefan will walk a little more stiffly than usual and Damon will move carefree, almost happy. She's not sure if she should take blame or credit. She's not even sure if it's on her, but she knows it's unlikely they would have started sleeping together if they hadn't followed her.

None of them bring up this arrangement.

*

Elena is sitting on a beach. She's leaning against Stefan's chest and her legs are on Damon's lap. She's staring ahead at the ocean.

"What do you two think of a cruise?" Elena asks.

"I'm game," Damon says, patting Elena's knee as he looked to Stefan. "Brother?"

Elena tilted her head up to look at Stefan. He wraps his arms around her. "I can't think of anything else I'd rather do."

"Good," Elena said, closing her eye and curling her toes in the sand. Almost, she feels whole.


End file.
